The Shumlin administration again Tuesday strongly denied misleading state legislators over the cost associated with its decision to relocate 400 state workers into renovated offices at Montpelier's National Life complex, even after a Burlington Free Press report quoted internal e-mails to the governor's office suggesting some basis for confusion.

At a news conference last Wednesday, the governor attacked a news report that quoted some lawmakers unhappy that a $2 million dollar renovation had now ballooned to $8.6 million.

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Asked if he wanted to now dial back his criticism, Shumlin said Tuesday he would not.

Aides say various cost estimates may have been "thrown around' with lawmakers early last year as officials scrambled to respond in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, which destroyed the sprawling state office complex in Waterbury. But Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding insists he can find no "official document" that represented a $2 million estimate for the project.

Still, Sen. Robert Hartwell, who last year chaired the Institutions Committee that oversees state buildings, said Tuesday "I think we did talk about $2 million figure (last year) and not the larger numbers we're now hearing." Asked where the $2 million figure had come from, Hartwell replied, "I think it was from BGS."

BGS refers to the Department of Buildings and General Services, which Shumlin controls.

But House Instutitions Vice Chair Linda Myers said as far back as last July, she was briefed on the higher figure as the project evolved, and says she was not misled by the administration. Myers also thinks $8.6 million represents a very good deal for taxpayers.

The higher figure includes the state's $5.1 million share of renovations to all seven floors of the National Life complex, and a $3.5 million first-year lease payment.

(The state has a ten-year lease with a five-year option to extend. Lease payments include a 2 percent annual inflation adjustment.)

The renovations mean roughly one thousand state employees from three state agencies -- Natural Resources, Transportation and Commerce -- can now be housed in space that previously accommodated four hundred fewer workers.

Shumlin has long wanted to bring state employees together in more modern space to improve coordination and management efficiency. But the administration insists there's been been no excessive spending nor cost overrun.

"In news reports last week we saw words used like 'gorgeous,' 'eye-popping' and 'extravagent,'" Spaulding said. "'But Vermonters should know not even agency secretaries and comissioners don't have private offices anymore."

An impromptu visit by a NewsChannel Five camera crew Tuesday found ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz unpacking near her new desk cubicle, which looked just like everyone else's.